The score line may have flattered Banbury slightly, but The Bulls were deserved winners. The Banbury pack played a big part in the win and were strengthened by new Argentinian signing Manuel 'Manu' Paniagua at prop (shown celebrating above).

Banbury opened the scoring through scrum half Josh Deegan, who took a quick penalty after Barkers infringed at scrum time, which was the first sign of a strong performance from the Banbury pack. Deegan (pictured) wormed his way over the line between two defenders with a good finish. Alex 'Pickle' Stevenson adding the extra two points.

Banbury’s field position and strength up front was rewarded with two more penalties, both slotted by Stevenson, to give the home side a 13-0 lead.

The move of the afternoon lead to Banbury's second try, Bulls built possession and field position through the forwards before Jed Boyle made a break down the right and picked out hooker Stevie Nutt in centre field with a pin point long pass. Nutt opened his legs and left the Butts defence for dead to finish under the posts, giving Stevenson an easy conversion.

Banbury were solid in defence throughout the half and went into half time 20-0 up.

Butts needed to get on the score board first in the second half and that is exactly what they did, Banbury’s intensity in defence dropped slightly and Butts punished the Bulls with a converted try.

The second half was a relatively scrappy affair, with neither team controlling possession, but Banbury created more chances when they had the ball. The first sign of danger was a chance for veteran second row Matt Brock, who failed to ground the ball over the line, who sportingly told the referee despite the try being awarded.

Banbury scored from the resulting scrum with a cross field kick from Stevenson that was collected by Boyle and passed to Joe Mills for a neat finish, and the reliable boot of Stevenson was on target again.

Banbury lost concentration again in their own 22 and assumed Butts would kick a penalty to the corner. However a tap and go led to Butts crashing over for their second converted score.

The game now really opened up, with The Bulls pushing for the bonus point try and Butts pushing hard to get back in to the game, but it was Banbury who got what they were looking for when the ball broke loose and Boyle hacked through to score. Again Stevenson added the extras.

Banbury would get another try before the afternoon was out. The Bulls domination of the scrum continued and provided a platform for the backs to attack from. On the final attack Stevenson was fed by returning club captain Phillips but was hauled down just metres short, but Sean Bannister was on hand to receive and run through unchallenged under the posts for a converted score.

The Bulls are on the road to Bedworth next week when they look to keep their unbeaten start going.